Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai!

Is my review biased because I’ve read the Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai! manga before watching the anime? Yes. Alright, now with that out of the way let’s continue. I am not the type of person to get hyped for things. I have only ever felt minor excitement for new or continuing, video games, anime series, book series, manga series, albums, or nature documentaries. However, I felt a moderate amount of hype for Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai! Upon reflecting on why I felt this way, I concluded that it was because this was the first time I have ever read the manga before watching the anime. An unimportantdetail for you maybe, but a new event for me. Now I understand how dangerous hype can be, if I allowed myself to expect too much, I would have been let down regardless of how good the final product would be. However, level-headedness prevailed. So, I can safely say that this is a good adaptation. Sure the animation could be better, but, I can still recognize that the story and the sound in Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai are lovely. You might not like this type of iyashikei anime like I do, but if you do, you are definitely in for something special. 8/10. *Spoilers beyond this point* The story of Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai! is about pain, suffering, bills, and half victories. From struggling to grow a tomato plant, to paying rent, from finding mystic gems in the ocean to getting lost in the wooded area behind her apartment. It just makes me happy. Watching every week to see The Marvelous Misadventures of Jahy really warmed my heart this summer and fall. Even though I liked the story, there are problems. Including one of my biggest pet peeves, a character being physically different and others having no comment about it. Jahy, Salwa, and Druj ann have pointy ears, but all of the humans don’t seem to mind. It would be one of my first questions. “What’s up with your ears there small child? Why do they remind me of Legolas?” But that’s only a pet peeve and not a major problem. A real problem I have with the story is that the magical girl and Jahy becoming (very) fast friends make no sense. Yeah, Jahy sees part of herself in the magical girl (pain, suffering, half victories, and so on), but she still destroyed the demon realm. I would still be absolutely furious if someone destroyed Earth and then wanted to be my friend. Another thing I really did not like is the rushed ending. The entire climax took only one and a half episodes, and it was also anti-climatic. It’s a real shame because it could have been a better one given proper time. Finally, I am in two minds about skipping the whole “Hi, I’m Jahy, the Deamon Realm’s number two, now give me a job and a place to stay.” On one hand, it is nice to get right into the show without the introductions, but on the other, I think it would be nice to see the introductions. One of the things that might upset the Jahy-sama manga readers alone is that the anime is not a shot-for-shot remake of the manga. Some parts are added, or removed, or changed from the manga. Most of these changes don’t really bother me, but the one thing that did was the fact that they took out some of the meme images that the manga spawned. This is disappointing not only because they would be funny to see in motion, but also they could make people want to watch the show. A thing that bothered me, and maybe nobody else on this planet, is that the anime showed Jahy at the bathhouse, but then waited to show Salwa’s perspective in the next episode. It should have been one after another to help the flow. When this adaptation was announced in mid to late April, I hoped that Kyoto Animation would be behind this adaptation. But, instead, we got Silver Link. Now, I have seen some of Silver Link’s work before, and I found the animation ranging from very good to okay. And I can safely say that the animation in Jahy-sama lands considerably in the good section. Not okay, not very good, but good. The colors are nice and vibrant and the color pallet is nice and consistent. So, this leads to a very nice comedy anime adaptation. The colors and some of the animation looks good in both OPs and EDs. However, I do have serious criticisms with the animation. When a person moves, the arms, legs, head, or the whole body moves either as a blur or in a snap motion. Now a lot of anime do this, but what really gets me is when these animation problems are in the OP or ED. These are critical animation parts of the anime because it is what the viewer sees at the beginning and end of every episode. Also, it is the same 90-second loop. Silver Link really should have put more effort and time into these OPs and EDs. I would have scored the animation lower, but I really enjoyed the good parts of the visuals in both of the OP and both EDs. Not only did I like some of the visuals of the second OP and both EDs, but I also loved the music in all four of them. All four songs were upbeat and catchy. They fit very well with the bright and vibrant colors of the show. The voice actors chosen to portray these characters are all fantastic too. The voices of all of the characters fit very well, and when I read the manga, I thought that they would have very similar voices. However, I also believe that there was room for improvement. I would of have had all of the voice actors go a bit further when voice acting their characters. For example, I believe the store manager should have leaned a bit more into the motherly “ara ara~” archetype. Also, I would have made adult Jahy’s voice a little deeper, a little more commanding, and a little more confident than it is. Since this is a comedy anime, I don’t think the voice acting quality would be compromised by these slight changes. Watching Jahy go from “For the love of the Dark Lord, why do I have to be around all of you moronic humans?!” to “Yeah. I guess you guys are my friends.” Seeing her slowly change throughout this season is not only better done than quite a few other anime, but also really fun to watch. The magical girl also has some character development. Although, it is not very extensive. She goes from foe to an obsessed friend. Her interactions with Jahy are fun to watch too. While only Jahy and the magical girl are the deepest characters, the other characters are fun and/or interesting. Honestly, even though I have criticisms with all aspects of this show, I still loved it. Watching Jahy and her band of colorful friends fumble about daily life, really warmed my heart. There were days when I really looked forward to Saturdays because I knew that a new episode of Jahy-sama was waiting for me at home. Now, not everyone has the same taste as me. So, this anime won’t before everyone. However, if you like this type of iyashikei anime like I do, you are in for something special. I walked away from this anime feeling satisfied, happy, and hopeful for another season. Overall, the characters, and animation get a 7, the story an 8, and the sound and entertainment a 9. For a final score of 8/10.

The great Jahy will never be defeated recap (mild spoilers) After the demon realm is destroyed by a hero, The Demon realm's second in command Jahy and her underlings get sent into another world. This new world is void of magic or any royalty/peasantry status so Jahy is forced to succumb to the work culture in order to make ends meet while also finding red crystals to repair the demon realm. As Jahy becomes more accustomed to this new world she finds it isn't as bad as she initially thought and befriends many humans; She also finds many comrades who have become successful or justplain lazy. The great Jahy will never be defeated is a fun and playful comedy reverse-isekai with a lot of promise, will Jahy be able to repair the demon realm or will she prefer the new life as a bar waitress? Story & Characters: 7/10 The story at first didn't appear interesting but after watching the first few episodes, I was hooked. Although comedy is a large element in the show, there are underlying elements like plot and narrative goal as well as fairly clear world building. Jahy is a playful take on good vs evil and shows us that change in environment and personal influence can have a significant impact on a person's way of life. After many hardships and successes, Jahy grows to find that there is more to this new world and grows fond of its people. However, that isn't all the story; Despite its comedic appeal the great Jahy has an unpredictable storyline with bad people becoming good and good people becoming bad - It doesn't have the level of violence as other demons series but it raises an interesting idea that "yesterday's enemy is today's friend". After Jahy transports she has many fights which usually end in a stalemate where she drops the rivalry and befrienss her enemies. I really enjoyed this approach instead of losing a character to her own character development. Many of the human characters in the great Jahy aren't scared of Jahy but instead help her in hard times or even fight her which may be the biggest influence in her change of demeanor. Overall, the story is more playful and doesn't unnecessarily kill characters for the main character's development. Art & Sound: 7/10 The art style is good quality the animation as well for that matter. The character designs for Jahy are generally on the moe-side and in adult form it's more explorative. I enjoyed the set designs because they're consistent throughout the entire show as well as a lot of the character designs. The art tends to fall apart in wide shots and series itself implements a lot of wide shots but they and the slideshow animation don't devolve the overall visual experience as much as I thought they would. Some of the music in this series is used to sound adventurous and fun which is a good approach. Many of Jahy's hardships come from her ability to transform into an adult so in her child form there is a lot more comedic elements at disposal on her and sound is one of the better elements used. The voice acting is suitable and very entertaining especially from the landlady, Jahy and the hero. Overall & Enjoyment: 7/10 I'm glad I was able to watch this show; There are a lot of flaws with this type of show like its comedy delaying a lot of plot progression especially in the beginning or some events feeling longer than expected. However, overall I really did enjoy the friction build up especially toward the end of the show with the Demon Lord and Justice.

"The longer the journey, the more profound its challenges, the more it changes all who endure it." - Maghra Season 2 of Hataraku Maou-sama! has finally been greenlit and confirmed, and Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai! is now once the perfect stop-gap show while waiting for the MgRonalds Madao Satan Demon to rescindle his rightful position. But is this show more than enough to warrant watching this weekly and tirelessly for the 5 months while this aired? Let's find out. The adaptation from mangaka Wakame Konbu's work of the same name, and you can immediately put two and two together why I and so many others compare this toHataraku Maou-sama!. Jahy-sama operates on two phases, since this is a 5-month, 20-episode long 2-cour series: the Magical Girl side covering the 1st half, and the Dark Lord side covering the 2nd half. At the very beginning, the reverse-Isekai features that are akin to Hataraku Maou-sama! plays out like you'd expect: a demon being (in this case, a demon girl) that has her world powered by the mana crystals (that gives strength to the Dark Realm) that's shattered by the Magical Girl, only to fall from grace into the human world as a childlike being but a loli (because all demons instantly lose their powers) to go and gather them to restore the Dark Realm, once and for all. The plot is as simple as that, but the only thing that the Great Jahy has obstructing her path is the Magical Girl a.k.a Kyouko Jingu whom destroyed her world in the first place, and is attempting to do the same in the human world. Thankfully, the Great Jahy-sama does not do this alone, and has her subordinate Druj a.k.a Nana Dojima to help her out, except that she's a wealthy woman leading a consultant company as its president, and that Druj has all the wealth to assist Jahy in finding the mana crystals. While all of this is going on, Jahy has to find a way to make her daily life useful, so she is taken in by the Ara-Ara store manager of the pub known as "Craft Pub Maou" while being forced to live in a run-down apartment that's run by the landlord, her sister Ryou. Oh, and plus the tremendously idiotic and hilarious Salwa, whose inventive plans and strategies always ends up failing due to her carelessness. This is actually not a bad start to the series, considering that if you have watched Hataraku Maou-sama! before, you would already know how all this worked out before with the supernatural setting and the comedy attached to it. A great 1st half if you ask me. Alas, being a 2-cour show, once the inclusion of the Dark Lord (the 1st-in-command) enters the highway, this I feel just took the show in a worse direction. The only good thing that came out of it was the inclusion of Kokoro, this innocent-looking elementary school girl that Jahy notices that she could be her next subordinate in helping her find more mana crystals. The Demon Lord character isn't bad, but looking at the way of her reaction being a non-talkative demon while simultaneously being a glutton of all things and taken care of by the Magical Girl, she's basically a mute that only responds to the things of like. Sadly though, mangaka Wakame Konbu's writing also suffers from constant repetitiveness of its gags and jokes, that once you've already seen it a few times before, you already know what to expect, and it doesn't take long for the comedy to become so stale and boring. So, I would say a great start that boggled down by the progression of the source material, adding characters that are essential to the series while putting a backburner on the comedy side. It's not an after-thought since it has already been established right from the get-go. The Great Jahy-sama as a character can seem overwhelming at first glance because of her nonchalant behaviour to quickly get things done back to the original state with her confidence, vigor, and ambitions, and that is how we're supposed to see her from the start. It's only overtime that characters like the Ara-Ara store manager and the landlord (Ryou) sisters begin to open Jahy's hardened heart to softness and compassion towards the humans, the most significant of them being the innocent Kokoro which sees her as not just an ally but as a friend, that opens up Jahy's character development. The others like Jahy's former assistant Druj though, as much as she is the head of the conglomerate company she is leading as the president (which means money isn't a big problem), she is simply a genius character who carries all the great comedy being one that's in love with how Jahy treats her like a S&M, that even better, is VA-ed by the one and only HanaKana, which absolutely fits her character to the T. The battle to the death against the Magical Girl Kyouko Jingu, I'd fathom that Jahy doesn't even need to retaliate too much despite the fact that she destroyed the Dark Realm in the first place, because she is a parody of a hero character, a klutz out to save people from their misfortunes. The more mana crystals that she collects, the greater the karma of bad luck. Even more detrimental is Salwa (or Saurva if you wish) who aims to take Jahy's place as the 2nd-in-command, and you can think of her as the sidekick to present some kind of rivalry that her plans constantly goes awry each and every single time. A decent character to break the mold, but not by much. Production-wise, don't expect too much from the decent studio that is Silver Link, and as much as the quality is concerned for long-running shows like this one, director Mirai Minato and his staff team (which surprisingly has hit-or-miss series composer Michiko Yokote onboard) did their best to keep it decent without being too flashy, because really, this show doesn't need that glamour. Sound-wise, this is also another show where I'd find that the former half's OST is the much better one compared to the latter half in every single regard. I mean, Yui Ogura's OP and the NEGI☆U Hololive ED were the perfect starter OST songs set for the show, giving it the appeal that the show really needed to stand out from the outset. While Sumire Uesaka's OP and Miho Okazaki's ED for the 2nd set ain't bad, it felt like a significant downgrade from seriousness to all-play mechanics. Remember that this is a show that's set on comedy roots, and I must say that I'm kinda disappointed that the show took an abrupt turn even on aspects that felt even the most minor. Overall, I'd feel that this show could've been made as just a 1-cour 12/13 episode production, and since that would've been enough for fans to clamor for another season of Jahy-sama, I'd guess that stretching this to a 2-cour made the most sense to encapsulate the entire (translated) source material (as of the posting of this review). Also, because of its weird starting date 1 month exact into the Summer season in August, while there's clear Ws and Ls about this move, the distinction is that Jahy-sama, as good as it can get for a mime-ified version of Hataraku Maou-sama!, while feeling sub-standardly inferior to the former, the enjoyment is as much as the show starts to wear on your patience on the execution of its comedy, which is the constant variable. See to it how you'd want to enjoy watching The Great Jahy Will NOT Be Defeated!, but it's a decent show for me.

I'd like to preface this review in saying that it took MONTHS for me to finish this anime. I liked the characters and the overall story, but after several episodes the anime got stale for me. The only way I was able to finish this show was to watch it while working. It all gets repetitive after awhile, even if the quality is decent enough for the watch. If you want to watch something good that'll keep you interested all throughout, this isn't that show. If you need something to listen to the background or watch from the corner of your eye, then this showwill suffice.

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